Moral Support
by Xenopsyche
Summary: Danny has a tendency to be stubborn about, well, everything, so convincing him to change his outlook on something is no easy task, especially when the thing may involve putting loved ones in danger. The second story, chronologically, in my 'Knife's Edge' timeline.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own 'Danny Phantom' or any of the characters, concepts etc. Those are owned by Butch Hartman/Nickelodeon, I believe. I make no claim to anything in this story, it is a perspective with hypothetical scenarios added in.

**[AN: Another edited and refined version of an old story, this one is basically the direct continuation of 'Knife's Edge' and deal with the formation of Team Phantom.**

**Not much more to say really, so enjoy, review if you're so inclined and feel free to ask any questions you might have. AN]**

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><p><strong><span>Moral Support<span>**

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><p>"Sam, can I talk to you for a moment?" Jazz asked surreptitiously as the Goth in question was about to walk out the door.<p>

"That depends; you're not going to try and psychoanalyse me to within an inch of my sanity again, are you?" She replied, somewhat guardedly.

Danny and Jazz's relationship had been a bit rocky over the past few years and was only just beginning to improve in recent months, so Sam had little experience with her beyond 'annoying and bossy older sibling'. It would take some time for both Sam and Tucker to get used to her interacting with the trio on a more regular basis now that she knew Danny's secret.

"Only if you give me a reason to. Actually, I wanted to talk to you about Danny, or more specifically, Phantom," the older girl replied, still appearing somewhat nervous. Apparently she still hadn't adjusted either.

"Okay, walk with me," Sam replied with a sharp nod of her and led the way out of the house. Normally Danny would have walked her back to her house so they had some time to talk without others around, but he was off fighting some random ghost that had decided to show up.

Jazz quickly grabbed a coat and her house keys before dashing after her brother's girlfriend. Once she had caught up, Sam just looked at her, clearly waiting for her to start talking.

"I wanted to talk to you about convincing Danny to let other people help him with the ghost fighting. His grades are far below what he should be getting, he spends almost as much time in detention as he does at home because he's always late to class and it's a miracle my parents haven't begun to wonder where all of their medical supplies disappear to at the rate he goes through them. He needs help or the responsibility is going to crush him."

"He's doing a much better than he used to, what makes you think he won't keep getting better?" Same replied defensively, irritated that Jazz would dare to question Danny.

"I know he's doing better, but _that's_ what scares me; that this state he's in now is considered 'better'. And you know better than anyone what it took get him to make that change. I don't want him to have to go through something like that again, I'm not sure he could take it. And even if he continues like he is, he can't keep it up forever, something will have to give and since he's too stubborn to give up his hero side it will have to be his human life; and we both know what could happen then," Jazz replied firmly, unwilling to be dismissed so easily by the younger woman.

Sam sighed before stopping and turning to the red-headed female. As much as she hated to admit it, she was right. Danny had been falling back on himself again and if they didn't stop it, things could get out of hand very quickly.

"Yeah, I do. And that's why I've already tried to convince him to let others help him. He's just too damn stubborn with that Hero Complex of his, plus he's terrified about other people learning his secret; not that I blame him for that. You, me and Tucker have to be enough; for his sake."

"But it won't be enough and you know it Sam! I'm off at College for most of the year and I can't just come down to help whenever he needs me. And you and Tucker have your own lives, not to mention a lack of any professional training or support. You've been a huge help for him and I can't thank you enough for that, I don't think he would have made it this far otherwise, but he's going to need more help; and the sooner he gets it, the better off he'll be," Jazz implored, her clinical detachment fading as her raw concern for her younger sibling took prominence in her mind.

She still felt terrible that she hadn't noticed the early signs of Danny's self-destructive spiral and that she had been too far away be of much use to him as he recovered, only able to get time away from Uni days after the fact.

"Then what do you suggest, huh? What genius idea have you come up with that Tucker and I haven't already tried?"

"We need to confront him together and lay out a plan, a system that can alleviate his concerns. He's smart enough to see the benefits, I just know he'll accept it."

Sam opened her mouth to shoot down the idea but was interrupted by more deliberate, deeper voice with an eerily detached quality to it; a ghost.

"Ms Manson is correct, or she would be if she had actually spoken. Daniel is a stubborn individual, particularly when it comes to the safety of others. This trait can be both admirable and aggravating; at the moment it is most assuredly the latter."

Both of the girls twitched in surprise (well, Sam twitched, Jazz jumped two feet in the air) as they turned to face the disembodied voice, before a blue-skinned and purple-cloaked ghost faded into visibility nearby. Upon recognising Clockwork, Sam replaced the Thermos she had been halfway through removing from her bag before introducing Jazz.

"Jazz, this is Clockwork, Master of Time and Danny's mentor-guardian-thing. He's the one that fixed up the Dan incident. And Clockwork, well, you already know Jazz. I'm guessing that you're here because you agree that Danny needs some help beyond Jazz, me and Tucker?"

"You are correct Sam; in fact it is imperative for everyone's sake that Daniel gathers allies he can rely on. You know that I am limited in how much I can influence events, for the sake of the Time Stream, so I can only make suggestions to Daniel. You two, however, are not restricted in such a way; you would have succeeded in convincing him eventually, but I feel it is… beneficial, to streamline the process."

"So you're just going to tell us how to convince Danny?" Sam asked sceptically.

"Yes," he replied simply, "you seem to forget that I am rather fond of the boy myself; he is, after all, my charge and responsibility."

"Oh, right, sorry," Sam reddened slightly in embarrassment. "Still getting used to the whole 'powerful benevolent ghost' thing; we don't normally have that kind of luck."

"That may change in the future..." Clockwork replied cryptically (as usual). "As for convincing Daniel, simply remind him of the events that led to his near fall into Dan Phantom. He requires allies, not necessarily to fight with him, but to provide moral support, amongst others things. He has learnt the potential dangers of abusing his power for his own benefit, but he needs others to ensure that the temptation to do so never comes up. Tell me, would he have considered cheating on that CAT exam if he had not been weighed down with his responsibilities as Danny Phantom and instead had time to study and achieve his substantial academic potential?"

Jazz finally processed the fact she was having an amicable chat with a ghost rather than shooting at it or vice versa and realised she should contribute to the conversation.

"Your right! He may be a bit lazy at times, by Danny's no cheat. With how much emphasis the school put on how the test supposedly dictated your future, it's no surprise he became desperate."

"I have shown you the way, now it is up to you to convince the young halfa. I will see you all again, in good time," and with that, he teleported away; leaving only faint traces of swirling ectoplasmic energy in his wake.

Sighing in frustration, Sam beckoned to Jazz.

"Come on, we can meet up with Tucker at my house and plan out how we want to present this to Danny."

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><p>"I already told you Sam, I don't want you guys risking your lives out there, I can handle it on my own," Danny said firmly, indicating that the conversation was over. Not that Sam cared in the slightest.<p>

"Ugh, I thought we covered this right after the whole Dan thing! You can't stop us from helping you, whether or not you need it; and you definitely need it!" she groaned, feeling like she was talking to a brick wall.

Sam, Tucker and Jazz had been trying to convince Danny to at least consider the possibility of forming a 'team' to help support him for the past fifteen minutes.

You can see how well _that_ was working out.

"Look man, it's not like we're asking to go out on the front lines with you or something, we just want to organise a better system to help you kick ghost butt," Tucker chipped in.

"I get it, alright! But if any of you guys got hurt, like seriously hurt, I couldn't live with myself. And besides, one of us struggling at school is enough; I don't need to drag you guys down with me as well."

Sam quickly excused herself from the room and snatches of her angry mutterings about 'stubborn teenage halfas and their hero complexes' could be made out in between the rhythmic pounding of her combat boots slamming into an unfortunate banister.

Meanwhile, Jazz took another shot at convincing Danny.

"But that's the point Danny, no one has to fail at school, or get seriously hurt, not us and not you! If you just let us help you in the fights, at school, with Mum and Dad, imagine how much better off you'd be. Remember a couple of weeks ago, when you took a short break to recover? Imagine having a life halfway between that and what it is now. You'd have the time to study and improve you're grades, you'd have time to play video games and read books and listen to music, you'd have time to spend with Sam where you aren't training or fighting a ghost. If we can get this team going, you can be an even better hero then you have been over the last two years because you wouldn't be so overworked and outnumbered all the time. I mean just think of-" Jazz argued, only to be cut off by Danny.

"Alright, alright! I really can't get you guys to give this up can I?" He exclaimed in exasperation.

To be fair, and as much as he hated to admit it, Jazz made some excellent points; things would be better for him if he had a more structured support system in place, and it didn't necessarily have to end in disaster if they took some precautions. Even his infamously stubborn nature had to call it quits at this point.

"Nope, sorry dude. You're stuck with us," Tucker grinned as Danny's shoulders slumped, a sure sign he was finally accepting defeat.

"Fine, but no frontline combat roles for you guys, okay? And let's just keep it between us four for the moment, I'm still not ready to let anyone else discover the truth about Phantom."

"Your terms are acceptable Baby Brother," Jazz held out her hand for a mock-serious handshake, which Danny returned with due solemnity and an icy glare for the 'Baby' quip. Sam (who had returned from turning the banister into splinters) and Tucker just laughed at the display of sibling affection.

"So now that we have a team, what are we going to call it?" Tucker asked curiously as he created some new file locations on his PDA.

"…"

"…"

"…"

Noticing the blank looks and complete lack of response from the other three members, Tucker just shook his head sadly and sighed.

"Team Phantom it is then."


End file.
